Frost laws start Monday

Monday

Feb 25, 2013 at 9:11 AMFeb 25, 2013 at 9:11 AM

Andy Barrand

andy.barrand@hillsdale.net HILLSDALE — Temperatures are below freezing and snow is on the ground but members of the Hillsdale County Road Commissioners are looking ahead to warmer days. The commissioners voted to impose the county’s Frost Laws beginning Monday by a 2-1 vote. Commissioner William Watkins voted against it. Frost laws in the neighboring counties are also set to go into effect Monday including Branch and Jackson Counties. Lenawee County imposed its law this past Monday. “To be uniform I guess we should go ahead and impose it Monday,” said Stan Clingerman, Hillsdale County Road Commission engineer-manager. The law limits speed and weight of vehicles over 10,000 pounds using county roads except for 50 miles of all-season haul roads. Axle loads should be reduced by 35 percent from maximum allowable loads and maximum speed is 35 mph. The laws do not apply to state highways within the county. During Thursday’s meeting commissioners also heard a presentation from Gary Reppert, traffic safety director. He said the trends in workmen’s compensation claims, incidents, personal injury accidents and fatalities are going in the right direction, down. Reppert tracks all of the reported claims and accidents in the county. Those reports help the county to address trouble areas on county roads. He said the road repair work that was done to Mechanic Road at Lake Wilson Road was a highly successful project in 2009. “Since that time I haven’t been able to find the report of any accidents at the corner,” he said. He has also seen improvement in those intersections at North Adams Road and Waldron Road and Litchfield Road at Cobb Lake that were repaired in 2010. The commissioners also approved an increase in the foreman’s quarterly bonus by $150 each to $400 for their on call service. The bonus is paid on a quarterly basis and there are four foreman eligible for it. The foreman are on call one week a month. “They are doing more duties so they should be getting more compensation,” said commissioner Michael Parney. The board also approved agreements for Adams, Fayette, Reading and Wright townships for gravel patching and gravel road stabilization. The all-season haul roads include: • Knowles, Sterling, Moscow Roads from the village of North Adams to Jackson County • Broom Road from U.S. 127 to the village of Waldron • South Hillsdale Road from Reading Road to the city of Hillsdale • Territorial Road from the Indiana state line to M-99 • Reading Road from M-49 to South Hillsdale Road • Jonesville Road from M-49 to the Branch County line • Concord Road from U.S. 12 to Jackson County line • Camden Road from M-99 to Tripp Road • Tripp Road from Camden Road north to Hillsdale Sand & Gravel • Herring Road from M-49 to M-99 near the city of Litchfield • Montgomery Road from M-49 to the village of Montgomery • Spring Street from West Bacon Road to Barr Street • West Bacon Road from Spring Street to the city of Hillsdale • Barr Street from Fayette Street to Mechanic Road • Mechanic Road from Bunn Road (south) to Barr Street The frost law will be in effect until it is lifted by the commissioners.